Okay JamesJM.....Let's see if I correctly understand & really get what you are saying...
Are you saying...
Like, you know the cause is lost, the leadership is incompetent, but you go 110% anyway because that's how you are wired...
you just soldier on as before, even though you know in your heart, that it is over.
Examples would be:
--Retreating German troops in Spring 1945 still defending The Fatherland.
--"Bagdad Bob" in Spring 2003...."That's not American artillery...that's just a thunderstorm!"
--The Regional Tourist Director for Chernobyl, Ukraine.
--Anthony Weiner's publicist
Have I correctly grasped your meaning about "players quitting.....but not actually given up"????